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SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A volcano dormant for decades erupted in south-central Chile on Saturday, belching an ash cloud more than 6 miles high that blew over the Andes and carpeted a popular ski resort in neighboring Argentina.

Fanned by winds, ash darkened the sky in San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, a government official there said, adding the city's airport had been closed.

The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 575 miles south of the capital, Santiago, in Patagonia also prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily traveled border crossing into Argentina.

Chile's government said it was evacuating 3,500 people from the surrounding area as a precaution. Officials said the volcano was spitting molten rock, but there was no visible lava flow.

It was not immediately clear which of the chain's four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions. The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960. Local media said the smell of sulfur hung in the air and there was constant seismic activity.

"The Cordon Caulle (volcanic range) has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometre-high gas column," Chilean state emergency office ONEMI said.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyesAnd clever in their own sight! Isaiah 5:20-21 NASB